1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and, in particular, to an improved method and apparatus for providing data in a distributed data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for using electronic documents within a smart phone.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of computers has become more and more pervasive in society. This pervasiveness includes the integration of personal computer technology into phones. By utilizing computer technology, users or callers have access to computing functions and resources in a personal, portable device. In addition, it is envisioned that phone users would be able to use some of the same software elements in a phone that are used at home or in the office. Various applications have been developed and are being developed for use in phones. These applications generally include communication applications to help a user stay in touch with other persons at home or in the office, such as voice mail, e-mail, or two-way paging with short text messages. Some phones incorporate so-called personal information manager(PIM) technology, such as an address book or a calendar for scheduling personal events. PIMs on a phone, on a home PC, and on an office PC may be synchronized to keep all information consistent and current.
Another adopted computer technology for use on a phone is voice and speech recognition. Voice recognition technology is already well developed in multimedia desktop personal computers and, when incorporated into a phone, allows a phone user to easily control and interact with a telephone application, such as automatically dialing a phone number, while obviating the need for manual input. Phones are becoming so ubiquitous that many people carry their phones so that they have some means for being in constant communication contact with others. Examples of common use of portable phones include carrying and using a phone within an automobile or possibly carrying the phone while shopping in a mall.
An attempt has been made recently to use smart cards as a depository for identity information. A smart card is generally a small circuit board with built-in logic, firmware, and storage that provides the smart card with some kind of independent decision-making ability. Typically, a smart card is a credit-card-sized device that contains integrated circuits with limited amounts of xe2x80x9cintelligencexe2x80x9d.
Smart cards are expected to be used as personal identification devices in a wide range of applications and hardware devices. In such an environment, it would be unnecessary to have a separate smart card for every particular application or hardware device. In such an environment, a single smart card could be used to identify a specific user and to provide user identification for a variety of devices. A user may insert a smart card containing personal information into a smart card reader or device that interfaces with a larger computing system.
By storing special software on a smart card, it has been envisioned that an owner of a smart card would possess an easily transportable physical device containing several abilities, e.g., a replacement for passwords and identity badges.
As the economy grows and jobs become more specialized, services have been created which provide conveniences for the public. When a customer registers for new service, the customer generally receives at least an account number but frequently also receives some type of card to provide visual proof that the customer should be granted a particular service. As these service cards proliferate, it becomes inconvenient to carry these cards at all times.
For example, it is not uncommon for a person to carry a card for the following services: frequent flyer programs with airlines, frequent buyer programs with grocery stores, movie rental stores, and discount price outlet stores. These cards are in addition to the more important legal documents which one usually carries in a wallet: health insurance card, automobile insurance card, Social Security card, and driver""s license. In addition, many people carry the following financial-type documents: credit cards, phone cards, automated teller machine (ATM) cards, etc. It would not be uncommon for a person to also be carrying the following items: tickets to events, passes to amusement parks, telebroker cards, etc.
It would be convenient to incorporate electronic document technology for all these types of documents into a single electronic device. However, smart card technology has been developing very slowly, while personal phones have been improved and adopted very rapidly.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method and apparatus for using electronic documents within a smart phone since the public already uses personal phones ubiquitously.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for using electronic documents within a smart phone. A merchant, legal organization, or other entity provides an electronic document to a subscriber as proof of registration for a service or of legal entitlement. At the time of registration, the subscriber registers a phone number of a phone at which the subscriber desires to receive the issued electronic document. After the electronic document is created, the organization transmits the electronic document to the phone at the registered phone number. The receiving smart phone allows the subscriber to manage the electronic document within the smart phone.